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Facts MatterFri, 13 Jun 2014 18:16:47 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.2Moving Onhttp://www.britannica.com/blogs/2014/01/moving-on/
http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2014/01/moving-on/#commentsThu, 16 Jan 2014 20:06:49 +0000http://www.britannica.com/blogs/?p=33983Seven years, 4,783 posts, around 300 contributors. Britannica Blog has had a good run since it first came online in 2006.

But new ideas come to light, new paradigms emerge, and new tasks are taken on board in the endless churn and change that is the Internet. And so it is for us. As of today we’re suspending regular publication of new posts here on Britannica Blog. We’re at work on new ways to inform and engage you at Britannica.com, and that will command our energies in 2014.

The blog and all of the posts that have appeared since the beginning will stay right here for, we hope, your reading pleasure. Come whenever you like to search, browse, and enjoy. Or visit our complete archive here.

Thanks to all the people who have been with us along the way—readers, contributors, and friends. You’ve made it rewarding and fun.

]]>http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2014/01/britannica-blog-archive-posts-from-2006/feed/0A Clever Use of Spineshttp://www.britannica.com/blogs/2013/12/a-clever-use-of-spines/
http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2013/12/a-clever-use-of-spines/#commentsWed, 18 Dec 2013 06:51:13 +0000http://www.britannica.com/blogs/?p=33711Many moths incorporate the setae (hairs) of the caterpillar into the cocoon in some way—often in the form of a weaving them with silk into the protective case around the pupa. But the method used by this [unknown] species takes some serious planning.
]]>Our thanks to Phil Torres, a field biologist based out of the Tambopata Research Center in Peru, for permission to republishthis post. He was interviewed earlier this year for Britannica Blog.

A circumscribing line of setae around this twig make a difficult wall to pass as an ant. Credit: Phil Torres

Many moths incorporate the setae (hairs) of the caterpillar into the cocoon in some way—often in the form of a weaving them with silk into the protective case around the pupa.

But the method used by this [unidentified] species takes some serious planning.

At the bottom, you get the forming cocoon and pupa, with the caterpillar still inside. But as you go up the twig you find multiple ‘walls’ constructed out of the caterpillar’s hairs all woven together to prevent predators like ants from climbing down.

The process of making this would have been truly something to watch, as the caterpillar literally takes the hair off its back and carefully weaves them together using the silk gland located just below the mouth.

As I figured out what the hairs were doing, I literally said aloud, to myself, “How are there so many cool things here?!” The Amazon never ceases to amaze me with the unique adaptations we find out here every day. Seriously.